The water along Lido Beach, Longboat Key and Anna Maria Island took on a brownish hue at the beginning of May. Test results taken at Long Boat Key confirmed red drift algae (seaweed) and blooms of Trichodesmium. Neither are considered harmful.
Current testing by FWRI: on the southwest coast of Florida, Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in water samples analyzed so far this week alongshore of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte and Collier counties or offshore of the Florida Keys (Monroe County). One sample alongshore of Manatee County contained background levels of K. brevis.
